A Word from Pastor Nathan

My daily alarm has been set to the same piece of music for years. Sara Groves, a singer/songwriter in the Christian tradition, released Floodplain in 2015. Though I enjoy the music from that release, one song grabbed my attention. With a lush orchestration of strings at the beginning and lyrics that spoke the gospel, I knew I’d need to listen to this song and let its words sink deep into my soul as I traveled the miles. Now, it wakes me up most mornings.

Enough begins, “Late nights, long hours; Questions are drawn like a thin red line; No comfort left over, no safe harbor in sight. Really we don’t need much just strength to believe there’s honey in the rock, there’s more than we see in these patches of joy, these stretches of sorrow, there’s enough for today, there will be enough tomorrow.” I hear the gospel in that, and perhaps you do, too. It’s a good reminder to wake up each morning, especially when sleep has proven elusive, and hear that there will be enough for today and enough for tomorrow as well.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches his hearers, “Do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed, your heavenly Parent knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the reign of God and God’s righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”

Some days are more troublesome than others, but the promise of the very best, most beautiful gospel-good news is that God will grant us enough grace to navigate what is troublesome, and God will do the same again tomorrow. Perhaps this is what the psalmist meant when she wrote, “Your mercies are new every morning.” Mercies that are new each day are enough to wake me up in the morning, enough to get me out of bed, enough to energize me for the work that is mine—and ours—to do. Imagine that, church. There’s enough grace for you, for our church, and for our world for today and tomorrow.

Thanks be to God.